Editing Alfred von Schlieffen (section)

==Military service==
On the recommendation of his commanders,{{sfn|Dupuy|1977|p= 128}} Schlieffen was admitted to the General War School in 1858 at the age of 25, much earlier than others. He graduated in 1861 with high honours, which guaranteed him a role as a General Staff officer. In 1862, he was assigned to the Topographic Bureau of the General Staff,{{sfn|Dupuy|1977|p= 128}} providing him with geographical knowledge and a respect for the tactical and strategic value of terrain and weather that would serve him well throughout his career, particularly in the war games he conducted and in the devising of various war plans including the famous [[Schlieffen Plan]]. In 1865 he was transferred to the [[German General Staff]] proper, though his role was initially a minor one. He first saw active war service as a staff officer with the Prussian Cavalry Corps at the [[Battle of Königgrätz]] of 1866, during the [[Austro-Prussian War]].{{sfn|Dupuy|1977|p= 128}}  The tactical "battle of encirclement" conducted there was from that point forward a constant feature of his tactical doctrine, even as his strategic doctrine consistently favoured the counter-offensive due to both his understanding of the terrain and his respect for [[Carl von Clausewitz|von Clausewitz's]] assessment of the constantly-diminishing strength of the offensive.

During the [[Franco-Prussian War]], he commanded a small force in the [[Loire Valley]], in what was one of the most difficult campaigns fought by the Prussian Army{{sfn|Dupuy|1977|p= 129}} in France. [[Frederick I, Grand Duke of Baden]], promoted him to Major and head of the military history division. After years working alongside [[Helmuth von Moltke the Elder|Helmuth von Moltke]] and [[Alfred von Waldersee]], on 4 December 1886 he was promoted to Major General, and shortly afterwards, with the retirement of Moltke, became Waldersee's Deputy Chief of Staff.{{sfn|Dupuy|1977|p= 129}} Not long after this he became ''Quartermeistergeneral'', then [[Lieutenant General]] on 4 December 1888, and eventually [[General of the Cavalry (Germany)|General of the Cavalry]] on 27 January 1893.

In 1904, on the occasion of the [[Herero Wars|Herero rebellion]] in [[German South West Africa]] (present-day [[Namibia]]), Chief of the General Staff Schlieffen was supportive of [[Lothar von Trotha]]'s genocidal policies against the [[Herero and Namaqua genocide|Herero and Namaqua]] peoples, saying "The race war, once commenced, can only be ended by annihilation or the complete enslavement of one party".<ref>Dominik J. Schaller: ''Ich glaube, dass die Nation als solche vernichtet werden muss: Kolonialkrieg und Völkermord in „Deutsch-Südwestafrika“ 1904–1907.'' In: ''Journal of Genocide Research.'' Band 6, Nr. 3, S.&nbsp;398</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/LessThanHuman/les020.html|title = Less Than Human - Pages 20-40}}</ref> He agreed in principle with Trotha's notorious ''Vernichtungsbefehl'' ("extermination order") of 2 October 1904, even justifying the many cases of killing of Herero women by the Germans, writing "If ... women have been shot, then one must remember that women have not only participated in the fighting, they have also been the main originators of the cruel and horrible martyrdom that our wounded have often been subjected to, and that the sight of these victims ... provoked the comrades to forgivable fury."<ref name="books.google.com">{{cite book|last1=Hall|first1=Isabel V.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V_4rITDiSWgC&q=%22schlieffen%22%22trotha%22%22comrades%22&pg=PA41|title=m: Absolute Destruction: Military Culture and the Practices of War in Imperial Germany|date=15 February 2013|publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=978-0-801-47293-0}}</ref> Only after the intervention of Chancellor [[Bernhard von Bülow]] and the fear that Germany's international image will be stained did Schlieffen agree, in December 1904, to repeal Trotha's orders to kill on the spot unarmed and surrendering Hereros.<ref name="books.google.com"/>

In August 1905, at the age of 72, Schlieffen was kicked by a companion's horse, making him "incapable of battle". After nearly 53 years of service, Schlieffen retired on New Year's Day, 1906.<ref name="V.J. Curtis 2003"/> He died on 4 January 1913, just 19 months before the outbreak of the [[First World War]].<ref name="V.J. Curtis 2003"/> His last words are said to have been, "Remember: keep the right wing very strong" (in reference to the main strategic manoeuvre of ''Aufmarsch I West''), but the tale is believed to be apocryphal and to have originated decades after his death.